Festival of Colors

Today my roommate and I went to the Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. It was so much fun! Talk about crowded....there had to be at least 6ooo-7000 people there....probably more. Everyone was thowing colored/fragranced flour stuff all over the place. What a unique experience. I hear the colors they use to celebrate the Festival in India are not washable! Yikes! The Festival of Colors celebrates the beginning of spring. I think everyone in Utah is past ready for it to be fully spring here. I know I am!

So I think I have made my decision on which school to attend for my Ph.D program. Come January, I should be living in Bloomington, Indiana, attending Indiana University. My program is Leisure Studies, with an emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation and Families. I'm so excited!!! And relieved, too. Sometime in early February I was accepted to Clemson University in South Carolina. They have a great program too, and they made me a really nice offer. But I've been holding out for IU. I must say that this was probably one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. Since I was accepted at BYU for my masters I have pretty much had my eye on IU. Most of my professors went there for their Ph.D's as well...and they all totally rock!!! But when I visited Clemson last October, I really liked it. So I was torn for a bit. But IU won out. They are pretty much the top university in the Leisure studies field, producing some of the most groundbreaking research. I'm so lucky to be able to go there. And Bloomington is a cute town. Now I just have to figure out what a Hoosier is.....

More pics of the Festival can be found on my google album page. Check them out!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jasmine.nutter/FestivalOfColors

Once a week...HA!

So my goal is to post something at least once a week. We'll see how that actually works out seeing as how I can't even manage to write in my journal more than once a year. So pathetic.

Life is pretty crazy right now. The data collection portion of my thesis begins this week. Woo hoo!!! So exciting! It's pretty crazy to think that this beast of a project is actually going to happen. I've been working on it for more than a year!! It's gone through a number of reincarnations but I think what I've ended up with is pretty cool. I've developed a family leisure education program to be implemented in youth treatment programs. What does all that mean in english? Basically, I am trying to teach families in treatment how to make their time together more meaningful. Hopefully, this will strengthen the family as a whole so that there is increased family functioning, increased satisfaction with family life, and less of a chance of relapse. Also, I'm hoping this will help strengthen treatment programs so that clients are admitted for shorter periods of time. Lofty goals....I know. But we aim incredibly high here at BYU. :-)

Spring is rapidly descending on Utah Valley. Last weekend I went mountain biking in Provo Canyon with my roommate. It was TOTALLY AWESOME!!! I got some sweet air off some jumps on this single track race course. Good fun!!! I love mountain biking!! Will post some pictures as soon as I download them. I have a perpetual flat tire and can't figure out what the deal is...I managed to blow through 3 tubes in one day. Not good. Anyways...Once I get it fixed I can start riding my bike to school again. Since gas is costing an arm and a leg, and quickly approaching your first born, my bike is going to be my best friend this summer. Sweet!!!

More to come later on Ph.D. programs......

P.S. I would like to thank Seth Flannigan for recently becoming a blogger and inspiring me to do the same. :-)

Getting started

I tried to start a blog a few years ago and never posted anything or sent out the link. I'm trying again in hopes that I will actually keep up with it. I probably won't have anything witty or wise to post very often, but at least I can keep my friends and family apprised of the comings and goings of my life as I traipse across the country in search of my future.

For those of you who visit this site, I thank you and apologize that this is what it is coming to in order keep in touch. I'm just not much of a phone talker...but that's not really a good excuse. I don't want to admit how much time I spend on my computer, unfortunately that's the reality of my life right now. So this will be a convenient way to stay updated. Visit often! Post comments! I'm sure I'll respond.

Most importantly...........Have a fabulous day!!!